Jim Futrell Livres

In 1968, three businessmen left their jobs at Cedar Point in Sandusky to purchase Geauga Lake Amusement Park. Geauga Lake had been a summertime escape since the 1870s, but by the 1960s it had fallen on hard times. The businessmen's company, Funtime, Inc., transformed the aging facility into a modern amusement park and established a reputation as an innovative operator in one of the nation's most competitive amusement park markets. Geauga Lake became the first park with two looping roller coasters and the first to integrate a full-scale water park, Boardwalk Shores. The company broke even more new ground in 1988 when it resurrected a classic roller coaster design to construct Raging Wolf Bobs. Images of America: Geauga Lake: The Funtime Years 1969-1995 captures the park's transformation and some of the countless memories that resulted from Funtime's 26-year ownership.

Explore Seabreeze Park, one of America's oldest amusement parks, and the tragedy that spawned a revitalization of the historic park. In operation since 1879, Seabreeze Park is the fourth-oldest operating amusement park in the United States. Mixing old and new within its gates, the park's attractions range from a vintage 1920 Jack Rabbit roller coaster and a tree-lined midway to a kiddieland and waterpark. George Long Sr. came to the shores of Lake Ontario as a concessionaire in 1904, and his son assumed ownership of the park by the 1940s. Over the years, the Long, Norris, and Price families have propelled the park through changing times and perilous fires. In 1994, fire destroyed the heart of the park, its carousel. Recognizing the damage as an opportunity to revive the cherished ride, the family relied on more than a century of experience to inspire and hand-craft a new antique carousel. In an age of corporate theme parks, Seabreeze Park endures as one of the country's favorite family-owned and -operated parks.